Traversed from Bierstadt via Sawtooth: nice solid rock, lots of exposure if you trying to stay on the ridge proper. Scrambled along Mt. Evans West Ridge over a couple of false summits before arriving on the crowded summit. Nice scrambling, good weather, stunning views!

Hey, when you guys summit Mount Shasta, do you start at the Pacific coast, at sea level? Do you start closer to the mountain, at 3500 feet, in the town of Mount Shasta? Or do you DRIVE UP AS FAR AS YOU CAN, to Bunny Flat (or whatever trailhead), and start from there?

How about Mount Whitney? Do you start hiking in Lone Pine, at 3700 feet? Or do you DRIVE UP AS FAR AS YOU CAN and then start hiking from there?

How about Longs Peak? From Estes Park? From Loveland? From the Atlantic Ocean? Or how about DRIVING UP AS FAR AS YOU CAN and then start hiking from there?

So the same goes for Mount Evans.

The exercise one gets from starting at a lower point is worthwhile for sure, and obviously if you started at the lower point, your summit achievement is more of an accomplishment than that of someone who hiked from a higher trailhead. But if I'm going to get exercise from a mountain-wilderness-hiking experience, I would prefer to get it on a trail that doesn't take you to a parking lot full of cars and people who drove up. If you can drive up, I would prefer to do it that way, because it seems rather unsatisfying to hike to a place you can drive a car.

So here are my Evans summits, from the 14150-foot trailhead, of course:
13 July 1997.
03 July 2010: With DayHikerJr, who hiked up part of the way before I had to carry him. I guess unacclimatized 2-year-olds can get sleepy at 14000 feet, especially around midday nap time. We were on a cross-country trip, returning to Nevada after spending a couple of weeks below 1000 feet in Michigan.

The air is THIN up there!! This is the highest I've ever been and my 11,000' pace is not the same as my 14,000' pace. Especially after you eat Frosted Mini Wheats for breakfast. And keeping up with the last 2 posts..... Ugh.

Left Guanella Pass at 9:35 PM, got to the summit at 11:30 PM. The moon was so bright that we kept the headlamps in the packs. Tried to catch some Z's on the summit, but it was kinda chilly, so we continued to Evans via Sawtooth. Back at the TH at 6:35 am. Looong trip, especially with no sleep!

We enjoyed crisp, beautiful fall weather today. Best of all, the short route and later season (later/lesser storm threat) meant we didn't have to start hiking in the dark. Yeah! The south side of this route was more fun and scenic than anticipated. Partner: Husband.

I climbed Evans via East Ridge route up to Bierstadt and the across the Sawtooth Ridge. Snow made the Sawtooth Ridge a little more challenging and potentially dangerous. But we took our time and made it across safely. There were very few people out there due to the snow storm. Fun day.

Night hike, from Bierstadt via the Sawtooth. By the time we reached the West Ridge at around 2am, fatigue had set in, and the going was tough. The summit of Evans had a great view of Denver city lights. Started hallucinating things on the way down. Got back to Guanella Pass at about 6:30 am and slept for 4 hours in the car. Fun sufferfest!